Snack Stadium Showdown

When you can't make it to the stadium for your team's big game, why not craft up one of your own for at-home-viewing enjoyment? Made entirely out of edible football-favorite foods, these seriously cool snack stadiums are worthy centerpieces for any football party. Seem a bit too complicated for your expertise? Five crafty creators are here to help, sharing tips and ideas to master your very own snack stadium.

Skip the chips-and-dip and head straight for dessert! Natalie Mclaury of The Sweets Life constructed a sweet tooth-approved stadium made out of a fruit pizza using kiwi, skittles and dyed coconut as the grass, thin wooden dowels as the goal posts and chocolate mousse cups with candy on top to represent the fans. Plus, she surrounded her stadium with dippable treats for her creamy Funfetti cake mix dip! Mclaury used non-edible materials to construct the stadium and used foods as decoration that could easily be removed and eaten. "People took their time to ooh-and-aah over the stadium, but our friends were lured by the site of their favorite treats and couldn't resist digging in," she says.

Chad and Karen Nizaky of Trifatherhood knew that creating their snack stadium was not a one-man job, so they recruited their kids to help build their stadium. With a plan in mind, Chad, Karen and their three children ventured to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for their snack-worthy project. The "field" of their stadium was a pizza with a large pepperoni football, but since Chad is a seasoned triathlete, they wanted to be sure to include some healthy options in their stadium, as well. Fruits and veggies like strawberries, grapes, carrots and cucumbers filled the stands, and they also included some crowd favorites like Chex Mix, cookies, pigs-in-a-blanket and chocolate croissants "The hardest part," Karen says, "was keeping our three children – twin four year-olds and an eight year-old – from eating it during the process!"

Stepping outside of the baking box, Dorothy Kern of Crazy for Crust constructed her stadium structure entirely out of pizza dough! While many might suspect that this version would be susceptible to crumbling, Kern mastered a secret method to ensure stability: Wrapping the dough around an inverted bundt pan. Kern recommends baking your stadium past the point of wanting to eat it, but slightly before it would burn. This will create a structure that is sturdy enough to stand on its own, hold treats within the stadium and avoid collapsing. Kern filled the stadium with chocolate cake batter dip and green frosting for dirt and grass, and emulated an audience by scattering colorful sprinkles on the wall of the stadium.

Photo courtesy of the culinary team at Pillsbury

Go Team Pillsbury!

When tasked with the goal of creating a stand-out snack stadium, the masterminds at Pillsbury did not disappoint! It comes as no surprise that the culinary team had a goal of making their snack stadium primarily out of Pillsbury bread products and their own game-day recipes. They achieved this by covering the edges of each section of the stadium with breadsticks and filling them with appetizers and snacks ranging from pepperoni pizza to bacon cheddar pinwheels. The outside of the stadium was stacked with Italian sub sandwiches and the field was made of guacamole and salsa dips, which featured breadstick goalposts and a bread-based "Jumbotron."

Photo courtesy of James "JD" DiBella, co-owner of Red Star Bar in Brooklyn

Fly High!

When the Rachael Ray Show announced that they would be holding a contest for the best snack stadium, James Dibella, co-owner of Red Star Bar in Brooklyn, NY, knew he was up for the challenge — and he started with a big idea! Dibella chose to incorporate food items that are most well-known at Red Star Bar. In total, Dibella used 400 sliders, 12 dozen wings of hot, medium, mild and raspberry barbecue variety, 60 mozzarella sticks, 300 nacho flags and five pounds of guacamole and sour cream.